How to generate more and better ideas

Quick answer: Read a book. Listen to a podcast series. Take a course. First, take in relevant and inspiring information. Then, take a break. Take a shower. Go for a walk. Drive. Meditate. As your brain works on integrating and synthesizing the information you’ve been consuming, fresh ideas will begin to form. Rinse and repeat until desired outcomes are reached.

Now for the longer answer.

Step #1: Consume Relevant & Inspiring Information

Here are several sources of valuable information:

• Blog posts
• Articles
• Books
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Courses
• Mastermind groups
• Coaches and mentors
• Live events

Experiment. Try staying with a concept or topic for an hour or more. Then, try jumping around form topic to topic as you finish articles or podcast episodes.

Keep digging, reading, listening or watching until you begin to feel excited and/or inspired.

Step #2: Take a Break & Step Away for a While

Once you’ve consumed one or more value-adding resources, try:

• Taking a shower
• Going for a walk
• Going for a drive
• Meditating

Fresh ideas should begin to form in your mind. If not, go back to the first step and try again.

Make sure you have a way to capture your ideas, such as with a voice memo app.

Additional Resources on Generating Ideas

I believe James Altucher to be the foremost expert in this space. Check out his article on becoming an idea machine for more information.

Originally published at https://davidandrewwiebe.com on January 14, 2020.